Disclaimer: Mass Effect characters belong to BioWare; The Avengers characters belong to Marvel.

Chapter I:

Cornered

"The paths are all here, Shepard. All you need to do is to choose one."

The hell did I just hear? Shepard furrowed her eyebrows. All the choices that the space brat, who claimed to be the controller of the Reapers, gave her were bullshit. She didn't know if the kid was trying to set a trap for her or what.

She clutched her wounded side with her free arm. She could still feel that warm, viscous liquid oozing out of her sides. Her time wasn't of her own; soon enough, if she wouldn't make a choice, the Reapers would wipe out the whole Victory Fleet. It wasn't that she doubts the fleet's strength—it was just that, by the way she had seen it from the windows of the Citadel, the war was costing more lives than she expected.

But still, none of the choices appealed to her.

"The clock is ticking, Shepard,"

Shepard gritted her teeth. "I know that, bitch," she whispered. Never in her history had that she felt so… trapped—even with her time with Cerberus wasn't this bad. Like a constrained wild Krogan, her spirit roared within her. She wanted to defeat the odds; yet her strength was ebbing quickly.

She looked at her options— three options that would change the course of history forever. Of all the chances of the Crucible not firing, why now? Her free hand invoulntarily gripped the handle of her gun. She was always known for someone who defies the odds. Why couldn't she do it now?

"Everyone's dying…"

"No, they're holding fine."

"Soon enough, they'll by crushed by the Reapers."

"Then why don't you go get your lobster stuffed toys out of our system and bother us no more?"

The Catalyst looked at her. "No, we can't do that. We are only saving you from your imminent destruction."

"By destroying us, yeah right," Shepard rolled her eyes, "But still, you're willing to show me how to destroy your toys."

"Your death will save the galaxy," the Catalyst said, "It will bring understanding between the synthetics and the organics."

Shepard suddenly felt the urge of hitting the bright child with the butt of her gun, "Understanding? In what hole have you been hiding huh?" she snorted, "I just risked a life of a friend just to end a war between the Geth and the Quarians. And as far as I know, they're doing just fine by working together. I don't need to die just to get that kind of understanding."

"You know it won't last forever."

"Nothing lasts forever, brat."

"But my solution will bring eternal peace between the organics and the synth—"

Before the child Catalyst could finish his argument, Shepard's gun flailed swiftly on his head, sending him sprawling to the ground. The translucent child shook his head as he struggled to get on to his feet but before he could even recover, Shepard grabbed one of his ankles and started to drag him towards the bluish beam of light.

"FOOLISH HUMAN, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU CAN ACHIEVE BY DEFYING YOUR DESTINY?"

Shepard looked at him and grinned. "I don't know. Maybe it won't achieve anything…" her voice trailed as she continued to trudge towards the blue light, "But if you really know me, I believe you already know this: It's either MY WAY or the HIGHWAY—or at least for now, the BLUE RAY."

"YOU WILL REGRET THIS, SHEPARD."

Shepard let out a small chuckle. "I've got a lot of regrets in my life; but I'm going to make sure this won't be one of them!"

As the child struggled to let go of her grasp, Shepard felt her whole life flash before her eyes. From the very moment she stepped into the deck of the Normandy SR-1 to her final hours in London. She let another chuckle, the pathway towards the main beam of the Crucible seemed so long that she was able to view her whole life slower than she expected. She took another step and then another, ignoring the accursed roars of the three-toned-voice of the child she was dragging.

"YOUR EFFORTS ARE FUTILE—THE REAPERS WILL DETERMINE YOUR DESTINY."

"Hackett said that the Crucible needs more energy to fire the Reapers' asses to hell," she said, "You seem to have a lot of energy—and if you're really their creator, I guess that if you'll die, they'll go to hell with you!"

Shepard stopped at the edge of the platform, dropped her gun, grabbed the Catalyst's leg with her two hands, and breathed in deeply. Alright Shep, this is it. She closed her eyes and exhaled. Collecting all the strength remained in her; she flung the Catalyst towards the bluish beam. She heard the boy's blood-curdling roar in the mid air as the beams consumed him to nothingness. Her strength had finally left her; and she was unable to recover herself from the throw. As she tipped down to the blue beam, she could hear the whole galaxy rejoicing—they had won against the Reapers.

Shepard smiled and closed her eyes, it was finally over.

"Joker, can you read Shepard's signal?" Garrus asked while holding off a horde of husks.

"No—shit!" the helmsman replied at the other end of the line, "I'm kinda worried after the Harbinger hit her team. But I can't run a full search since these damn Reaper ships are chasing me to hell! "

Garrus furrowed his eyebrows. "Bothers me too," he said taking cover from a barrage of shots, "She just charged to the conduit without any back-up. What the hell is she thinking?"

"Tali got injured," Joker replied, "She called me to pick up Vega and Tali and leave. Damn it! I knew I should've given her some ground cover!"

The turian sighed. "You know how stubborn she is; and you can't do anything about it."

There was a one minute silence on the other end before the turian heard anything. "Hey Garrus, I think you should call the others to the extraction point."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"No shit, I'm not!" Joker replied, "I think I saw the Commander on the Crucible!"

"Did you drink the night before the fight?"

"It's not a joke Garrus! She's in there, walking as if she was fighting against something."

"Are you sure about that? What the heck is she doing in there anyway?"

"I don't know, but we have to help her!"

"But how—"

"I'm sending you the coordinates for extraction; we got to get to her fast!"

"Joker wai—" but the connection went off. Garrus sighed and reloaded his assault rifle. He fired a few more rounds to the endless waves of monstrous creatures running towards him. He retreated to an abandoned building, pulled out a grenade, threw it to the midst of the enemy ground forces, and ducked. While the blast removed most of the persistent husks, Garrus set up his communicator to conact his squadmates.

"Everybody, this is Garrus," the turian called while avoiding detection from the enemies, "Joker said that Commander Shepard was found inside the Crucible!"

"Are you sure about that? " Kaidan first asked.

"I don't know, but Joker's pretty sure about it."

"Well, whatever it is, we can't just leave Lola in there, right?"

Garrus cringed at the sound of the strange nickname. "I know. I'm sending you the coordinates to extraction," Garrus said as he tapped some buttons on his omni-tool, "Better wrap up you're business in there quick—Joker's pretty hyped up. Garrus out."

.

.

.

.

"Any news about Shepard?" Tali asked the helmsman as they team boarded on the Normandy.

"She's still in there," Joker replied, excited, "but I don't think she's holding up much longer."

"Jeff, relax," EDI said, "Shepard is a strong woman. She can handle this."

"I know EDI. But there's no way in hell I'm going to leave her there!"

"Alliance Army to Normandy," Admiral Hackett's voice rang on the communicator, "The Crucible is firing up. We advise you to get away from here as far as you can."

Joker's hands ran cold. "B-but the Commander's still there somewhere!"

"In the Crucible?"

"Yeah."

"But why and how—?"

"I don't think it matters now, admiral," Joker replied, "If the Crucible will be destroyed after a full single shot, she's gonna die in there."

The other end went silent for a while. "W-we can't do much about it. The Crucible is about to wipe out the Reapers. If you don't get away from the beam, you'll be wiped out—"

"But the Commander may die in there!"

"She knew the risks beforehand," the Admiral replied, "This is an order Flight Lieutenant Moreau: get you and the rest of the team away from here before the explosion occurs. Hackett out."

Joker couldn't believe what he just heard. Nobody really knew the effect of the Crucible. They were just taking precautions. But how could they do this to the woman who united the whole galaxy against the Reaper threat? He spun his chair and found that the rest of the squad were right just behind him with a worried look on their faces.

The helmsan pulled his hat down and went back to the ship's controls. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm still going to save her," Joker whispered while tapping some keys on the omni-keyboard, "If you don't agree with me, you better hitch hike with someone else."

"Joker…" Liara's voice trailed,

"The hell, I dunno what you feel about her, but this is what I know: When the first Normandy went down, she didn't hesitate to get left behind just to save me," Joker said, "To me, that's enough motivation for me to dive to that impending shitstorm just to save her. The heck, actually, that's my job—pulling her boots out of the fire!"

Everyone remained silent as Joker continued his speech. "You may not realize this; but I think we owe so much to the Commander—more than our lives. I may have worked my ass of in flight school just to get the highest honors but without the commander in my life, I'll probably just another simple pilot flying around the routine missions. It is through her that I really proved to myself and to the whole galaxy that I'm the best helmsman that the Alliance Fleet can ever have. Commander Shepard didn't just save our lives—she brought us out of our boring lives and showed us what we really can be.

"Liara, if she hadn't met Shepard, may be still a simple asari researcher up to now and might have never been the Shadow Broker. Wrex is probably still a Krogan mercenary and not the proud head of the Urdnot clan if he and the commander never met. Garrus may still be an emo C-Sec officer not the courageous Turian vigilante who can beat people with a pole stuck in his ass that we know today. Tali may still be a little Quarian engineer in her pilgrimage and not the strong Admiral of the Quarian fleet here. James may not be encouraged to join the N-forces if weren't for Shepard's influence. And you, Kaidan, won't even prove yourself worthy of becoming a Spectre if Shepard isn't there. And Javik would probably still in his stasis pod doing nothing if Shepard hadn't found him!"

"I'm still here, Jeff," the unshackled AI reminded him.

Joker grinned. "Yeah. EDI wouldn't probably understand what it really means to be human if weren't for Shepard."

The squad looked at each other and nodded. Joker quietly hoped that they understood his impromptu speech.

"Commander Shepard brought out the best in us," Joker continued, "She always puts her life on the line just to fix our issues. I guess this is the right time to return the favor."

Silence filled the bridge for a whole minute before Tali finally broke it. "Actually Joker, we're all up to saving Shepard."

"Yeah," chuckled Garrus, "and we just wasted precious time by listening to your 'Heroic Helmsman' speech."

"Get this bird flying, flight lieutenant," Kaidan added, "The Crucible's 'bout to fire up."

Joker frowned. "Since when did you get the right to order me around?"

"I'm a Spectre, remember?"

"Yeah, right."

"What's happening?"

Shepard felt herself being pulled into the Crucible's energy. As far as she knew, gravity was just the same as it was in Earth; yet why did things go slow for her? The accursed sound of the Catalyst being torn apart by the blast slowly reached her ears. Was she about to get dissolved to?

Normandy to Shepard: Hang in there, the whole squad is coming to get you.

"Was that Joker's voice?" Shepard whispered. She couldn't believe her ears. How come the helmsman tracked her down to the Crucible? And why was everyone going to her location? Shepard bit her lip. Those idiots would just go down to hell with her if she wouldn't warn them.

She slowly pressed her communicator and cleared her throat.

"Shepard to Normandy: this is an order: clear the area around the Crucible's firing range—we don't really know what it does but I'm pretty sure it'll be quite ugly."

A loud static came in for a reply.

"Damn it Joker, I'm serious."

Another static ensued. The commander cursed under her breath and disconnected the line. She just hoped that they had gotten her message.

Her whole body had grown numb—the same feeling she had when the first Normandy exploded. She had let gravity drift to the very core of the blast. Had this thing had no end?

Shepard forced her eyes open. Everything around her seemed to be blurry and dissolving like oil rising to the water's surface. She turned her head around and saw that the whole Crucible was being devoured by darkness. The Catalyst's scream, the Reapers' static noises, the relentless gunfire, and the Normandy's call: all of those still lingered in her ears. Was it a dream—or a vision of her impending death?

Commander? Shepard? Are you still there? These damn Reapers are just stalling us; but don't worry, we're almost there to pull you out.

"No, don't come," Shepard whispered.

Shepard, we're at the Crucible's main gun and it's glowing white and—oh shit!

Shepard almost popped her eyeballs out. "Joker? Damn it, get ou—!"

Before she could completely say the sentence, a beam of white light began to devour her. Shepard muttered another curse as she tried to claw her way out of the impending ocean of white in front of her. Her communicator sent the crew's screams of anguish to her ear. She could hear Joker's excited but panicked commands to the other crewmembers. No, no, she opened her lips but no sound came out from her mouth. She could easily handle her death, but what about the death of all those she cared for? Shepard frantically waved her hands; but it was all in vain.

Soon enough, the white beam covered her sight completely. Shepard threw one last attempt to break free but all her strength had left her. She felt limbs being torn away and her skin being burned. Never in her war days had she experienced such pain. Her whole body ached until she finally yielded to her destiny.

Why does it have to end like this?

. . .

With all the things that happened to him, Loki wished he had already died during his conquest in Midgard.

He had lost everything: his status, staff, power—even his own voice. All he had was shame after his failed attempt to conquer the land of the mortals.

After being dragged back to Asgard by his foolish 'brother', Thor, Loki had been sentenced to be bound, muzzled, and locked away in the most distant part of Asgard where he could do no harm to anybody while Thor and the Warriors Three could keep an eye on him. The trickster god detested his condition. No kind of humiliation was worse than he was already experiencing.

Now his limbs were stretched out to the four corners of the cell he was confined in. He could feel his joints groaning due to prolonged stretching. With his mouth gagged, Loki was unable to do anything to ease his present condition. He couldn't convince his guards to do anything for him—much less get their attention.

"Sif, you are making a huge mistake!"

Loki perked up his ears. Series of quick footsteps followed by agitated voices neared to his containment. The loud, boisterous voice surely came from his barbaric brother. Why would Thor and Sif pay him an unexpected visit?

"The All Father has already decreed this, Thor," Sif said, "He wants this mortal to be imprisoned here."

"This is not right! The mortal is just confused—"

"Confused?" Sif interrupted, "She just killed almost a hundred Asgardians in a single fight! Not to mention the injuries she has caused."

Loki raised an eyebrow. He was well aware of the foolhardiness of mortals; but for someone to assault the Asgardians—and actually deal a heavy damage? There were only two theories: either the mortals were getting strong, or the Asgardians were getting weak. And Loki presumed that the second theory was more plausible.

"I…But such punishment is not fit for a mortal like her."

"Mortal? She seems like a monster to me— look at her glowing eyes and scars!"

Loki raised another eyebrow. Perhaps the first theory could also be plausible.

"Midgard technology must be responisble for that change, Sif," Thor explained, "I have a friend there—by the name of Tony Stark—he may explain this manner of sorcery."

The sound of footsteps stopped. Loki could see their shadows flicker by the small hole they could actually call as a "window". He leaned forward as far as he could be, not wanting to miss any word.

"I do not know, Thor," Sif said,"Odin himself ordered her incarceration—perhaps you may still reason with him."

Thor sighed. "I may or I may not," he said, "But it is still wrong to put her here along with these….monsters."

As the two Asgardians walked away from his cell, Loki's rage boiled within him. So, his oafish brother had already labeled him as a monster. Soon enough, he would show him who—

"GET YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF ME, YOU WALKING TIN MEN! THAT'S JUST WHAT YOU GET AFTER PLACING YOUR POINTY STICKS ON MY FACE! AND IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO RIGHT NOW, YOU'RE GONNA GET SOMETHING WORSE!"

Loki's concentration broke. The voice was way unfamiliar for him to recognize. Was it the mortal that Thor and Sif were talking about? Three shadows passed along his cell: two stiff ones and one that was moving vehemently. Loki laughed to himself. What manner of a mortal so brave yet so stupid—just like his brother Thor. But he was impressed at the mortal maiden's valiant resolve. She was not the one who would accept imprisonment as destiny. Soon enough, she would find a way to break free in this prison. All he had to do was to go with the flow.

But how?

A/N: Hi there, it's me...again. This is a story I'm writing while I'm suffering a writer's block on other stories. I've just watched The Avengers and all I can say is... THE AVENGERS ARE COOL AND LOKI IS FREAKING HOT (fangirl squee)! So yeah, this is a Mass EffectXThe Avengers cross over.

Still deciding if this will lead to a full blown FemShepXLoki story or not. Ratings are also being decided (may change to M later on)

First time to do a cross over and I hope I'm doing it right... Let me know what you think.. :)